English Language and Culture for Business

Canadian humour

Ok – I’ve given you some British humour. Here’s some Canadian humour – and some context.

The capital of Canada is Ottawa.

Our current Prime Minister (leader of the govt.) is Steven Harper. He is a right-wing politician with a tradition in the extreme right.

Our former Prime Minister was Jean Chretien.

24 Sussex drive is the residence of the Prime Minister. In the first film, that is really the Prime Minister – really at 24 Sussex drive.

Rick Mercer is from the province of Newfoundland (Atlantic Coast) and was one of presenters on a comedy news programme called “This Hour Has 22 Minutes”. Personal opinion: the best Canadian comedians come from Newfoundland (Rick Mercer, Mary Walsh, etc.)

Newfoundland was incorportated into the Canadian conferderation of provinces in 1949.

The capital of Canada is still Ottawa.

We’ve had a general interest in politics since we received our constitution from Britain in 1982. We learned not to take it too seriously in 1995 – after much deliberating and discussion about the integrity of the country.

We’ve had a love-hate relationship with America since their independence – Canadian troops (militia fighting under British leadership) burned Washington DC during the Napoleonic wars (War of 1812). We love that.

A “shit storm” is a general North American term meaning ” a lot of trouble”.